


This is Going to Sting a Bit

by peacenik_jesus



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 19:08:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16980144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacenik_jesus/pseuds/peacenik_jesus
Summary: Aaron has to utilize his field medic skills when a routine patrol with Jesus doesn't go as smoothly as they planned.





	This is Going to Sting a Bit

Jesus liked scouting with Aaron. He was funny, a good conversationalist, and easy to work with. Over the past several months, they’d partnered up anytime it was their turn to scout and clear walkers, falling into an easy routine. As they rode side by side down the deserted road, they played a game of rapid fire word association.

“Ball.” Aaron said.

“Catch,” Jesus replied as the image of catching a baseball entered his mind.

“Throw.” Came the next word.

“Up.”

Both men laughed at the answer, and it made Aaron think of another dad story. He was sure people were getting sick of hearing them, but he decided to retell it to Jesus anyways. “I’d never spent much time around babies before all of this. I’d heard that they could projectile vomit, and that they spit up at almost everything, but I never fully appreciated it until I was laying on the bed, holding Gracie up over my head—you know, doing the airplane thing that parents do and making the kid feel like they’re flying. I had my mouth open, making faces up at her—“

“Oh, god, don’t tell me…” Jesus groaned in sympathy.

“Yup. Right in my mouth.”

“I think I would have vomited in response,” he gagged at the mere thought.

“I nearly did.” Aaron laughed.

Jesus’ horse threw his head, whinnying, and started to side step while backing up. “Whoa, come on Gulliver. Easy…” While he tried to calm the horse, he and Aaron were both looking around to see what was spooking Gulliver, but couldn’t see any immediate threats. Aaron’s horse was snorting, signaling that he, too, was starting to pick something up.

“What the hell do they know that we don’t?” Aaron asked, his horse walking in a nervous circle.

Jesus could only get a shrug in before Gulliver pranced to the side, rearing up anxiously before bolting like the starting gate at a race had just opened. Jesus grabbed the horse’s mane with one hand to keep from being bounced off as they galloped at full speed down the road, Gulliver’s ears pinned back to his head.

“Whoa!! WHOA!!!” Jesus called, pulling back on the reins as hard as he could to get the horse to stop. Gulliver jerked the reins out of his grasp, and made a sharp turn towards a clearing. There were two trees with low-hanging limbs on either side, looming closer and Jesus knew it would kill him if Gulliver ran him into the trees. He made a split second decision and leapt from the saddle. He felt like he was flying through the air far longer than should have been possible before gravity finally pulled him down. He protected his head with his arms as he hit the ground, rolling several times before finally losing momentum.

He was dazed from the impact, unable to draw breath for several moments as the wind had been knocked out of him. As he started to push to his knees, the pain in his side was intense and he immediately knew that if he hadn’t broken a few ribs, he’d at least cracked them. He rolled onto his back, wincing in pain. Every part of him hurt.

Aaron rode up seconds later, having regained control of his horse, and jumped down as he ran to Jesus’ side. “Paul!! God, are you okay?”

“I think I’ve broken my ribs,” Jesus growled in pain through clenched teeth.

Each scouting group had been trained in basic field medic skills by Siddiq, and forced to carry a medical bag with them anytime they went out. Aaron was suddenly very grateful for the training as he ran back to his horse and grabbed the pack. Helping Paul to sit up carefully, Aaron removed the leather duster from Jesus’ shoulders, sliding it down his arms, then carefully pulled his shirt up so that he could examine Paul’s side.

“Nothing’s sticking out,” Aaron said, looking into Paul’s face and trying to smile. “That’s a good thing, right?”

“Do _not_ make me laugh right now, Aaron.”

Aaron pulled the medical tape from the bag and had Jesus cross his arm over his chest. “This is going to sting a bit…”

Jesus inhaled as deeply as his ribs would allow, and held the breath in. Aaron cut several long strips of tape placing them at a diagonal from Paul’s shoulder blade, down to the middle of his ribcage. He cringed in sympathy pains as he had to rub the tape against the skin to activate the adhesive. Paul growled and grumbled. “Sting my ass!!”

“I know, it sucks. I’m almost done. Then we get to go find your horse, get you back on the horse, and ride back to Hilltop.” Aaron told him, trying to be humorous about it, but only getting a groan in response. Several pieces of tape were placed lengthwise over the other pieces, then Aaron carefully slid Paul’s arm back into the sleeve of his shirt. “Anything else hurt?”

Paul shook his head as he breathed out, trying to reach back to fix his hair that had gotten mussed in his tumble, but stopping when the pain in his side protested the reach. “Can you…?”

Aaron was already moving behind him and pulling his hair loose from the knot at the back of his head. “I don’t know that I can get it back the same way. I think you’ve pretty much perfected the man bun.”

“It’s fine, just put it in a ponytail.”

Aaron’s fingers combed through the tresses, surprised by how silky and soft and thick Jesus’ hair was. He was half tempted to lean in and smell the other man, betting that he would smell like Herbal Essence, but decided that would be too weird. He picked a few twigs from Paul’s hair, then gathered the hair in one hand, combing from his hairline back to make sure all hair was captured and smoothed into place before he twisted the elastic band several times over to secure the ponytail.

“I really should start getting some practice at this. Gracie’s hair will be long enough soon, and I’m sure she’ll want pigtails and braids and everything else. God knows I have no experience with that.”

Jesus started to laugh, but stopped when his ribs protested again. “You’re welcome to use me as a guinea pig anytime. I love when people play with my hair, but Enid’s really the only one who does it.”

“You may regret that offer,” Aaron laughed softly, then carefully helped Paul to his feet, reaching down to pick up his leather duster and the med bag. He carried both back to his horse, laying the duster between the horse’s neck and the front of the saddle before he secured the bag. “Do you want to just ride my horse and I’ll go get yours? That way you don’t have to walk across the field.”

“Thanks,” Paul nodded. Aaron cupped his hands together to help give Paul a boost into the saddle, but the pain still ripped at him as he pulled himself up. He cried out, gripping the saddle horn as he cradled his ribs with the other arm. Aaron rested a hand on his leg.

“You okay?”

Jesus nodded tightly, trying to breathe through the pain, and Aaron gave his leg a comforting pat.

“Wait here. I’ll get Gulliver.”

It felt like an eternity had passed before Aaron rode up beside him, reaching for the reins and slipping them over the horse’s head. Paul looked at him curiously.

“You just focus on staying in the saddle, I’ll lead.” Aaron said, giving Gulliver a kick to move him forward, and pulling the paint mare alongside.

“I still want to know what spooked them,” Paul said, cradling his ribs against the motion of the horse’s gait.

“Maybe they caught wind of something. Another animal or something. If it was the walkers, we would have smelled it, too.”

The trek back to Hilltop was agonizing, but Aaron did his best to distract Jesus by playing common road trip games. Paul appreciated the effort, even if he didn’t feel too enthused about playing along. It was nearly sunset before they made it back. Aaron dismounted Gulliver and let the stable hand take him to untack him, then led the paint horse up towards the medical center so that Paul wouldn’t have to walk.

Jesus groaned as he dismounted, jarred with pain once again and let Aaron help him inside so that Siddiq could look him over.

“You good?” Aaron asked Paul when Siddiq took over.

“Yeah. Thanks, Aaron.”

“Don’t mention it,” he gave a small smile. “I’ll put your coat in your trailer for you.”

“Thank you.” Paul said, watching Aaron duck out as Siddiq began to poke and prod at him. He grit his teeth against the flare of pain and found himself wishing that Aaron had stayed to hold his hand. He inwardly rolled his eyes at the thought. Aaron had far better things to do than look after him. Still…it was a nice thought.

“This is going to sting a bit…” Siddiq told him as he gripped the edge of the tape.

“Yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Paul snorted, growling when Siddiq ripped the tape off of him.

 _Sting my ass…_ Paul thought for the second time that day.


End file.
